Man of Action
by DrawnToDarkness
Summary: Ward messed up with Skye. Now he has to fix it. SkyeWard.


_Written for a prompt on Tumblr - prompt at the end :) Fluff and a bit of humour hopefully._

* * *

He heard her laugh and clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth as his hand tightened around the glass in his hand. Beside him, he heard May make a sound of amusement and lifted his head to glare at her. The other agent merely smiled and arched an eyebrow, as if silently challenging him to do something about it.

He would, probably, if he knew just what it was he could do.

Skye wasn't talking to him, so him talking to her was out of the question. She hadn't talked to him for far too long as far as Ward was concerned.

Ever since that night two weeks ago, in fact, when they'd both had one drink too many and said things... said things he thought they shouldn't have said but couldn't quite bring himself to regret entirely. No, what he regretted had come later.

After the tipsy confessions and the clumsy, yet somehow sweet kiss they'd shared. It was the part where he pushed her away, told her it was a mistake – that was the part Ward had come to regret.

The part responsible for him only being able to relive their kiss in his memory instead of repeating it in reality.

He'd hurt her; he knew that. He remembered all too well the flash of pain in her eyes, the sting of rejection, and he'd started to regret his decision then and there but even then it had been too late to change his mind.

The damage had been done.

She was civil towards him when she had to be but there was a coldness in the way she spoke and acted around him that wasn't natural, wasn't right. The others had quickly picked up on the tension between them and, one by one, they'd figured out the cause of it – well, mostly due to Skye confiding in Simmons, Simmons telling Fitz and Fitz being unable to keep it to himself.

Having expected Coulson at least to take his side and agree that members of the team shouldn't get romantically involved – there were rules against fraternization, even if those rules were flaunted and overlooked on a regular basis – Ward had been surprised at the disapproval he'd seen in his boss's eyes the morning after Coulson had found out. It was almost as if Coulson had been rooting for him and Skye to get together but that was ridiculous, wasn't it?

Fitz and Simmons, he knew, were all for it. Apparently they'd called it from the beginning and even had a wager on who'd make the first move and when it would happen. Fitz, having placed a bet on Ward being the one to make the first move, had made no secret of his disappointment that it'd been Skye who had kissed him first.

Skye laughed again, the sound floating over to him from the other side of the living area. While he'd taken up residence at the bar, his rookie was sitting on one of the sofas, smiling brightly as she flipped her hair over her shoulder in what was clearly a flirtatious gesture as she gazed admiringly up at _him_.

Agent Kyle Harper.

The other agent had joined them for a mission – a one off, Ward was not so secretly relieved about – and they were on their way to Los Angeles to drop him off at his base of operations. If it wasn't for the fact the agent – tall, blond hair, blue eyes – had taken an immediate shine to their resident hacker and that it appeared to be mutual, Ward thought he might've even liked him.

Maybe.

He was a good agent. Professional. Smart. But he was also charming, witty... and had started flirting with Skye since the moment they'd first been introduced.

Ward was, to put it bluntly, not amused.

Whereas he couldn't even get Skye to look at him, Harper managed to get her to smile and laugh.

She refused to train with him, citing exhaustion from a sleepless night when Ward had reported it to Coulson and Coulson had asked her about it, but he'd caught her sparring with Harper more than once both on the way to Mexico for their mission.

She ignored the water bottle he offered her but gratefully took the spare Harper had packed for her when they were trekking through the jungle.

And when she'd twisted her ankle, running back towards the Bus when things had gone wrong as they were prone to do when the team were involved, she'd refused _his_ help, her SO, and instead had leaned on Harper, squealing a little and wrapping her arms around his neck when the blond agent had scooped her up in his arms and carried her the rest of the way.

"I never thought you were the jealous type, Ward." May kept her voice quiet but he still heard the amusement in it.

"I'm not jealous." He was, and he didn't like it one bit.

"There's an easy solution to all of this," May continued as though she hadn't heard him, twisting her own glass in her hands so the light reflected off it and created a rainbow pattern on the wall opposite them. "Just man up and tell her how you feel."

"Man up...?" Ward stared at her, wondering for a moment if he'd had one drink too many. Then he registered the second part of her 'advice' and schooled his features, his expression blank. "I don't know what you're talking about."

May snorted and rolled her eyes."Of course you don't. And of course you can't tell her because you're not the talking sort and even if you were, she probably wouldn't listen." She shrugged a shoulder when he could only look at her. "You should probably show her instead."

"Are you drunk?" Ward eyed the glass in her hand, the glass in his, and then the bottle on the bar between them. He tried to remember how much had been in the bottle when he'd opened it so he could calculate how much he'd had and therefore how much May'd had...

"Not drunk, Ward. Just saying it like I see it." May gave him a small smile, one that didn't reach her eyes. May's smiles rarely did. "Life's too short for regrets." Her gaze shifted for a moment, towards the staircase leading up to Coulson's office, the glance so brief Ward thought he might have imagined it. "Take it from one who knows."

The older agent slid off her stool and walked away, leaving Ward alone with his thoughts, the sound of Skye's laughter haunting him.

* * *

Her cheeks were beginning to ache from forcing another smile as Harper droned on yet again about another mission in which he'd miraculously saved the day. Skye stifled a yawn and tried to pay attention to what the blond man beside her was saying, sure what he was telling her was supposed to be classified information but unable to find it in herself to care or call him on it.

She laughed when Harper cracked a joke, tossing her hair over her shoulder for good measure, and was gratified when she saw Ward's shoulders tense in response.

Good.

She wasn't as oblivious as her SO and teammates might think she was; she knew exactly what effect her flirting with Harper was having on the usually stoic agent and she was glad of it.

Served him right.

His rejection of her had stung, especially since she was almost certain he felt the same way about her as she did about him. Oh, he'd apologised and gone on and on about how it wasn't a good idea, how they could end up getting distracted and blah-blah-blah.

Like they hadn't both been distracted on their last mission as a result of _not_ being in a relationship.

His reasons, while noble, had been nothing short of excuses in Skye's eyes. When she'd discussed them with Coulson – Coulson, of all people, who'd come to check she was okay when she'd truthfully told Ward she was too tired for another training session after having not slept very well the night before – he'd all but agreed with her. He knew a couple, he'd told her, agents who were partners in every sense of the word and yes, it'd been frowned upon at first, but they were two of the best agents he'd ever had the privilege of working with, made all the better for their ability to completely and utterly trust the other to watch their backs.

It was that conversation that had made her all the more determined to get Ward to see things her way. If that meant she had to make him suffer a little in the short-term, well, she was sure the long-term would be worth it.

Tearing her gaze away from her SO's back, Skye looked at Harper to find him looking at her expectantly.

Crap.

Fixing a bright smile on her face, she tilted her head in what she hoped was an endearing manner. "I'm so sorry, Kyle, I faded out a little there at the end. Must be the excitement of the day catching up with me. Would you mind if I called it a night?"

He minded, if the expression that crossed over his face was any indication, but it cleared quickly and Harper gave her a charming smile instead. "Not at all. Would you like help back to your room?"

Suspecting he made the offer because he was expecting a goodnight kiss, Skye shook her head and eased herself off the sofa, careful not to put too much weight on her injured ankle. "I'm sure I'll be fine. Thank you for the offer."

Disappointment coloured Harper's tone. "If you're sure...?"

"I am." With a little wave, she turned and started walking slowly towards her room, steadfast ignoring the man still sitting at the bar even though she could feel his eyes on her.

She was proud of herself for making it halfway across the room without letting a sound escape despite the shooting pain in her ankle every time she put pressure on her foot but almost as soon as that thought crossed her mind, Skye stumbled and felt herself begin to fall.

Crying out, she put her hands out in front of her to break her fall... only to jerk to a sudden stop as warm arms clasped around her middle in an iron-clad embrace.

Groaning internally, she turned her head, expecting to see Harper there with his 'how great am I?' grin on his face and felt her lips freeze in the smile she'd forced when she found herself gazing into dark eyes and not blue ones.

"Oh."

Ward didn't say anything, not that she'd expected him to. What she did expect him to do was let her go and then head back to the bar, grabbing the bottle before taking it with him into his bunk.

He didn't do that, either.

Her breath caught in her throat as she found herself being swept off her feet and she protested half-heartedly as he carried her bridal style the rest of the way to her room. Instead of setting her down inside the doorway, he carried her all the way in, setting her on the bed before turning to go.

Only he didn't actually go.

Skye watched, stunned into silence, her mouth dry, as he covered the short distance between her bunk and the door only to close it before turning back to her, his expression reminding her so much of the one he'd worn the night she'd kissed him that her heart began to race.

"Ward...?"

He opened his mouth as if to say something but changed his mind part way through, shaking his head. She felt the disappointment blossom in her chest, sure he was about to leave, but didn't have time to dwell on the thought as he strode towards her, leaned down and kissed her soundly.

When he pulled back to catch his breath, they were both panting. Skye fisted her hands in his shirt, holding him close when he would have pulled away.

"You're not going anywhere," she told him a little breathlessly. "You can't kiss a girl like that then leave her alone."

"I wasn't going to. Not if you want me to stay." He pulled away enough to look down at her, his eyes searching hers. "No pressure, Skye. If you want me to go..."

"You're not. Going. Anywhere," she repeated, tugging on his shirt until she could kiss him again. "And you're not backing out on me this time.

"I'm not," he promised, swooping down to kiss her again to prove it.

* * *

The following morning, neither Skye nor Ward surfaced until May landed the Bus in LA. Harper, having been looking forward to spend his last morning aboard with the pretty young hacker, was more than a little put out.

He'd tried asking the others where she was but they all claimed not to know. He'd knocked on her door but there'd been no answer and when he'd tried to open it – just to check she was okay, of course – Agent May had appeared as if from nowhere and had glared at him until he'd walked away.

He was stood with his pack slung over his shoulder, watching as the ramp was lowered, when he heard it. Familiar laughter; Skye's laughter. Turning with a ready grin on his face, he froze when he saw her, standing with Agent Ward at the top of the stairs, smiling at him adoringly. He was about to call up to her when Ward leaned forward and kissed her, causing Harper's jaw to drop and one of the scientists – Fitz or Simmons? The male one, whichever he was – to emit a high pitched noise.

"Did you see that? Did you see?" Eyes wide, the male scientist turned to the female one, who was smiling sappily in the direction of the oblivious couple above. "He kissed her so I win, right?"

"No. You already lost. Skye kissed him first."

"But the bet was who made the first move that got them together. They didn't get together when Skye kissed him. They –"

The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted the duo, and they turned to see Agent May standing behind them, a hand held out expectantly.

"I believe I called it that they'd get together before we landed. Pay up."

Harper watched on incredulously as they did just that and walked off the plane without so much as a goodbye from his temporary teammates.

* * *

_Poor Harper. *smirk*_  
_The prompt was: Prompt: Skye ignores ward after he rejects her. She then shows interest in another agent they are working on a mission with. He gets jealous. Realises he likes her. She makes him work for it._


End file.
